CPJ, partner groups urge UNESCO to pull Obiang prize

New York, August 12,
2010--The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
should cancel the Obiang prize at its next session in October 2010, the
Committee to Protect Journalists and 95 partner groups said in a letter to
UNESCO Executive Board members today.

At its last meeting,
on June 15, UNESCO agreed to delay the prize to allow for further
consultation, following a public outcry from a diverse group of scientists,
health professionals, press freedom advocates, and rights groups around the
world.

A total of 96 nongovernmental organizations from 6 continents--including 25
from Africa--signed the August 12 letter.

The groups thanked
UNESCO's director-general, Irina Bokova, and the Executive Board for
recognizing their concerns, but reiterated their call for the prize to be cancelled
definitively, rather than simply postponed.

"A prize in President Obiang's name or
supported by money provided by him offends the very standards and goals UNESCO
promotes," the organizations said in their letter.

President Obiang's
government is known to be highly repressive. For example, it tramples on the
right to freedom of expression that is at the core of UNESCO's mandate.

Despite Equatorial
Guinea's vast wealth from natural resources--which gives it the highest
per-capita GDP in sub-Saharan Africa--it has shockingly low health and
development indicators, on par with some of the poorest countries in the world.
Obiang and his associates are under
investigation for corruption in several countries, and findings so far raise serious concerns
about the source of the funding he pledged for the UNESCO prize.

"We strongly
encourage you to use this time of consultation to reform the prize
establishment process generally, so that any prize inconsistent with UNESCO's
mission--including its work to promote human rights--cannot go forward," the
groups said in the letter.

The groups urged
UNESCO to ensure that the $3 million offered by Obiang is instead used to
support the education, health, and other basic rights of the people of
Equatorial Guinea.

"By rejecting this
'dictator prize' and making sure that the funds are better used, UNESCO can
uphold the principles in its mandate and help the people of Equatorial Guinea
at the same time," said Tutu Alicante, the Equatoguinean director of EG Justice
who signed the joint letter. "The country's oil wealth should be used for
essential social services that benefit the poor, not fancy award ceremonies for
the president."